Understanding soil in the Green Heart
What are the soil qualities of the Dutch Green Heart region and how can this information be used to support sustainable spatial transition of the area? These were the central questions of the pilot’s co-creation session on January 19th.
The Green Heart area (Groene Hart) is a large, central rural region situated centrally in the Dutch Randstad. It functions as a vital open-space buffer between the major urban centres of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht. The pilot is working to better position soil in spatial planning & design at provincial, regional, and local levels.
For this event, the Green Heart's existing soil data and information was inventoried and categorized in four soil qualities; informing, carrying, regulating and producing soils. These soil qualities, also considered as soil ecosystem services, were mapped and printed on posters. During the session, representatives from knowledge institutes, academia, regional environmental agencies, drinking water companies, provincial and local governments discussed whether the mapped information was correct and complete. The most pressing spatial topics in the Green Heart were also discussed: Planning of new Housing & Infrastructure, Sustainable Agriculture, Preservation of Spatial Quality, Climate Adaptation, and Energy Transition & Securing Drinking Water. The grou debated how the inventoried soil qualities can be of added value to these topics. This increased the understanding of the linkages between soil aspects and spatial ambitions in the region among relevant stakeholders.
The session did not only result in a more complete overview and a better understanding of relevant soil data and information. Rather, the discussions also revealed specific stakeholder needs to better integrate soils in spatial planning. It appeared that there was a need for a concrete instruments that can be used by planners, designers, and soil experts to position soil in the domain of spatial planning. Additionally, a more strategic approach was proposed to influence agenda setting at national level with the aim to better include soils on the level where legislation and policies are made. In the end, the importance of soil literacy to increase understanding of the relation, effects and importance of soil and planning was highlighted. These learnings will be taken forward in the SPADES capacity building program.
The session was organized by SPADES-partners Deltares, TU Delft, and pilot contributor Bestuurlijk Platform Groene Hart.
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